


These Old Bones

by little_librarian



Series: Grant Us Peace [2]
Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-19
Updated: 2019-11-19
Packaged: 2021-02-12 23:15:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21484429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/little_librarian/pseuds/little_librarian
Summary: Graham watches the Doctor flip switches aimlessly and thinks about what he wants to ask her.Did you love herseems too much, and he’s pretty sure he knows that answer regardless.What happened to heris a possibility, but he’s afraid of a tragic ending. Rose looked about Ryan’s age, and he can’t bear the thought of her dying in someone else’s war.What he says is, “Was she happy?”An epilogue for Time and Again
Relationships: Thirteenth Doctor & Graham O'Brien, Thirteenth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Series: Grant Us Peace [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1548562
Comments: 6
Kudos: 254





	These Old Bones

**Author's Note:**

> The whole of Time and Again spawned from, like, two lines of dialogue that ended up not working with the story. Of course, the only solution was to write an epilogue just to use those lines.

Later, when they’re back in the TARDIS and Ryan and Yaz have gone to relax, Graham lingers in the console room. He watches the Doctor flip switches aimlessly and thinks about what he wants to ask her. _Did you love her_ seems too personal, and he’s pretty sure he knows that answer regardless. _What happened to her_ is a possibility, but he’s afraid of a tragic ending. Rose looked about Ryan’s age, and he can’t bear the thought of her dying in someone else’s war.

What he says is, “Was she happy?”

The Doctor stills, takes a deep breath, and says, “Honestly?” 

“Yeah.”

“I don’t know.”

It’s the kind of answer she would never give to Yaz or Ryan, at least not without a fight. For all that they’ve seen since coming aboard, there are some things they’ve yet to experience, and Graham gets that the Doctor doesn’t want to be the one to disillusion them further. She saves her quiet, hard truths for him. It’s in these moments that Graham believes she’s every bit as old as she says she is.

“Why not?” Graham asks.

The Doctor pushes herself away from the console and goes to sit on the steps. Graham eases himself down next to her. They’re not touching, but they’re close enough that Graham could lean over and bump their shoulders together. He doesn’t push, doesn’t repeat his question; just waits and watches while she gathers her thoughts.

“I left her,” the Doctor says at last. “Left her with her family and someone who. . .who could make her happy. Someone who loved her.”

“Did Rose love this someone?”

The Doctor pauses, considering her answer. “She did. But they’d been through so much, and it changed them. Him especially.”

Graham can tell from her vague answers and slow, careful words that she’s taking a complex situation and stripping down until she’s comfortable saying it aloud. This is a story where the details are only for those who lived it.

At length, Graham asks, “Did you ever go see them? See how they worked out?”

“They’re in a parallel world, and the walls between realities shut tight when I left.” The answer comes easier this time, perhaps because it’s more fact than feeling. 

Graham shuffles the parallel worlds thing to the back of his mind. His own universe feels too big already.

In his silence, the Doctor continues, “I could go now, maybe, but. . .”

“But if you don’t go, they’re always happy,” Graham finishes. It’s a guess, but it feels right. “Rose can live forever.” 

The Doctor laughs a bit, a low, rueful note that’s barely more than an exhale. “Forever,” she repeats, and Graham knows he’s reminded her of something special. “Thank you, Graham.”

It’s a dismissal, but it’s kind. She allowed her memories to rub her raw, allowed Graham to see, and now she needs time to find her way back to exuberance before the next adventure.

Graham doesn’t say that he’s sure Rose is happy, not when all either of them can do is hope. There’s no room for platitudes tonight. As he pushes himself to his feet, all he says is, “Goodnight, Doctor.” 

“Night,” she responds, half-hearted, and stares blankly at the doors.

The thought of her sitting there alone, hurting and reminiscing, doesn’t sit right with Graham. So he reaches down and tousles her hair briefly, like he would a child, then hurries deeper into the TARDIS.

“Oi!” the Doctor calls after him. She doesn’t follow but she does laugh, lighter this time, and Graham finds comfort in the sound.


End file.
